Should you hire freelance lawyers?

Efficiency alone won’t build a durable practice. Hiring freelance lawyers can expand your capacity, but only if you manage them strategically, with clear expectations and real integration into your workflow. And if AI and new tech tools are giving you time back, that reclaimed space needs to be reinvested into marketing and client development if you want to see your firm grow. We also look at the wave of lawsuits against tech companies and what they signal about emerging risk, and recommend a podcast on the civil rights movement that reminds us how law, courage and social change intersect.

But first, the tariff ruling is out, but the public is more concerned with the legal status of boneless wings.

“I will f–ing kill you if you answer another question with more than five words, OK?” 
Redditors sound off over the advice attorney Michael Levy gave former Victoria’s Secret owner Les Wexner on a hot mic during a deposition before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Congress was questioning Wexner about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

"I am the storm."
Speaking of problem clients, comedian @realbakednapkins nails the divorced-dad-on-Facebook aesthetic.

From the courthouse to the ditch
A federal judge charged as “super drunk”—a legal term in Michigan—had a 0.27 BAC. In police body cam footage where he appears to urinate on himself, Judge Thomas Ludington claims he just came from the courthouse and has no idea how his airbags deployed. 

This goes way beyond practicing law without a license
A group of people in New Jersey set up a fake law firm and conducted fake court proceedings to scam immigrants.

What we're watching
As we close out Black History Month and slide into Women’s History Month, the miniseries "Women of the Movement" (2022) is spot on. It tells the story of Mamie Till-Mobley, who fought for justice following the murder of her son Emmett. Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner, Miss., where the trial of those accused of Till’s murder was held, is now part of the National Park Service’s new Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument. 

Managing freelancers 

Hiring freelance or contract attorneys to take something off your plate and boost your firm’s productivity is becoming more common. But doing so successfully requires a bit more than crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. This article from Montage Legal Group lays out a clear, experience-grounded playbook for when and how law firms should work with freelance attorneys.

The piece breaks the process into actionable steps: get organized about the work you can delegate, be proactive in planning and communication, proceed carefully with trial assignments, and set realistic expectations (especially about time and deadlines). 

Why this matters: Most firms don’t have associates with the capacity to swing on and off projects as the firm’s workload fluctuates. The thoughtful hiring of freelance lawyers can help fill the gap when there is a spike in demand, but only if they are managed properly. (Montage Legal Group)

Tech on trial

The absence of significant regulation governing their operations meant that it was unusual for Big Tech companies and their leaders to be hauled into court. But courts are becoming less hesitant about applying traditional tenets of tort and contract law to novel situations. 

There are a slew of lawsuits alleging that companies that built AI models (think OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google) used copyrighted material to train their systems. Most will settle, but each preliminary (sometimes procedural) skirmish is shaping the industry. 

Amazon has dodged liability for the products sold on its website for years. But the Washington Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the e-tailer can be sued by the families of people who committed suicide by ingesting sodium nitrite bought on the site.

The leaders of Big Tech companies are also spending more time in the legal spotlight. 

When Mark Zuckerberg took the stand to testify about Meta marketing to teens and tweens, he was asked about internal documents that suggested he act more “human” and “relatable,” and “empathetic,” and less “fake,” and “corporate,” and “cheesy.” He ended up admitting, “I think I’m actually well-known to be very bad at this.” 

Meanwhile, a trial over Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter (now X) can proceed now that they found enough impartial people to impanel a jury.

Why this matters: Is Big Tech the next Big Tobacco? All this litigation is an indication that Silicon Valley’s once-impenetrable legal shield is crumbling, despite a relative lack of tech-specific regulation. 

If these walls could talk

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail is a collection of courthouses, churches, museums, schools and other landmarks that bore witness to the fight for social justice in the 1950s and '60s. This podcast explains why each location is important by telling the stories of the people, moments and decisions that drove the civil rights movement forward. Rather than a dry recitation of facts and dates, the podcast brings the not-too-distant past to life through vivid storytelling.

Why this matters: The podcast offers more than a history lesson. It provides a framework for understanding how law, social movements and individual actions intersect. It often touches on the ways our legal system both enforced and resisted change. (The United States Civil Rights Trail Podcast)

• Criminal defense lawyers are tracking irregular DOJ action 
  
• Epstein estate settles victims’ class action for $35 million
  
• Illinois legislation would basically ban law firms from having non-lawyer owners
  
• USPTO files with itself for ownership of two Board of Peace trademarks
  
• Judges are not happy with the Trump admin’s immigration litigation

The new bottleneck

There are two roadblocks to law firm growth, according to Chris Rossi: operations (the ability to do more work) and marketing (the ability to attract more work). In this article, Rossi argues that firms can gain efficiency in their operations by using AI, but they will not see a corresponding increase in revenue unless they use the time they save to do more and better marketing.  

Why this matters: This article reframes the way you think about returns on technology investment. If your firm spends time optimizing workflows but hasn’t thought about how to fill the time you gain, you may be leaving money on the table. (Attorney Sluice)

You're all caught up!

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 Raise the Bar is written and curated by Emily Kelchen and edited by Bianca Prieto.